GARAGE SALE SHOPPING GOOD FOR ACQUIANTANCES

By Monica Sotomayor, Flashnews.com
Posted: November 30, 2007

TORONTO (Wireless Flash) -- If you're unsure what to get your mailman, hairdresser, kid's teacher, or school bus driver this Christmas, try shopping at garage sales.

According to Toronto-based Garage Sale guru Jenn Callum, yard sales may be a good place to find bargain holiday gifts for acquaintances -- just make sure the gifts aren't too dusty or old.

Callum -- who has been garage sale shopping for about 30 years and has found many bargain items that turned out to be valuable -- says if you're going to shop at garage sales for small holiday gifts, make sure you hunt for items that look brand new, function, and are still in their original packaging.

And if you bargain hunt correctly, the recipient may never know their gift was purchased at a garage sale.

Callum says, "I've found brand new items at garage sales in the past, like unwanted gifts still in the packaging.

Would I let anyone know it was a garage sale find? No way!"

And while garage sale shopping for acquaintances may be suitable, Callum doesn't suggest getting your cherished loved ones their gifts from the bargain bins.

She says, "I've never entertained the thought of Christmas shopping for my family at garage sales. I mean, if I found out my Christmas present was from a garage sale, I'd be a little upset."